James Plummer, who graduated from Rutgers in May, moved closer to securing a spot on the U.S. national team competing at the world championships in Moscow in August.

Written by

Jerry Carino
| @njhoopshaven

James Plummer was new to the whole victory-lap thing, so he followed a couple of pros - Olympian Lance Brooks and Russ Winger - as they circled the perimeter of Drake Stadium in Des Moines, Iowa.

Someone stuck an American flag in Plummer's hand - he's not sure who - as the men's discus medalists at the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships set off to receive fist bumps, high-fives and handshakes from the crowd. Only then did Plummer, who finished third, start to grasp what he had accomplished.

"Everybody had their hands out, and I thought that was for them," Plummer said, referring to Brooks and ...